Various types and models of machines used for functions such as cutting vegetables and other products are known, which find their main application in industrial kitchens and places that process large quantities and volumes of food. These machines considerably facilitate users' jobs since they save a lot of work and effort, as well as time, for the persons responsible for these tasks.
As is known, a vegetable cutting machine of the type used in the state of the art, normally consists of several distinct components or parts, which can be coupled together to assemble the machine. These components essentially consist of a base that contains the motor unit, a cover that closes off the base at its top and that contributes to the formation of a cavity through which a shaft emerges driven by the motor and which houses the cutting tools used by the machine, and a part constituting the food feeder, superimposed on the cover of the base, and provided with a conduit for feeding the food in the direction of the cutting tool. The assembly is complemented with a presser piece, articulated in a manner that folds at one of its ends, and provided with means for holding on the side opposite to the folding end. Projecting from the presser piece is a tubular element that is inserted through the food feeder conduit and through the tubular element of which a piece or component that is normally known as a plunger can be likewise similarly introduced. The plunger is designed to press the food in a downwards direction towards the cutting tool, and is normally provided with some form of stopper that limits the plunger's path through the tubular conduit.
A machine of this type perfectly fulfils the objective of cutting vegetables and other products, for which it was designed. However, despite fulfilling its objective, there are several aspects of the design that can be improved with a view to making it more ergonomic, easier and safer to handle, longer-lasting, and especially easier to maintain, guaranteeing that cleaning operations can be achieved in a more complete manner. This is the purpose for which the present invention has been developed, the objectives of which have been fully achieved by means of the improvements resulting from the structural and functional changes introduced in this type of machine, and which are explained below.